--- title: Should I Eat Yogurt Covered Snacks and Yogurt Covered Raisins? description: Yogurt-coated raisins sound like a double-dose health food. But don’t be fooled—a shell of “yogurt” contains some very un-yogurtlike things canonical: https://time.com/3945988/yogurt-covered-raisins/ author: Mandy Oaklander article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-07-23T14:20:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:29:21.450Z article:section: Health og:title: Should I Eat Yogurt-Covered Snacks? og:description: Yogurt-coated raisins sound like a double-dose health food. But don’t be fooled—a shell of “yogurt” contains some very un-yogurtlike things og:url: https://time.com/3945988/yogurt-covered-raisins/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt729c4e5477e34886/69885b993c1639f155458e90/screen-shot-2015-07-20-at-12-25-00-pm.png?branch=production&width=1103&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1103 og:image:height: 620 og:image:alt: yogurt covered pretzels og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Should I Eat Yogurt-Covered Snacks? twitter:description: Yogurt-coated raisins sound like a double-dose health food. But don’t be fooled—a shell of “yogurt” contains some very un-yogurtlike things twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt729c4e5477e34886/69885b993c1639f155458e90/screen-shot-2015-07-20-at-12-25-00-pm.png?branch=production&width=1103&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 01:55 video:published: 2015-07-22 section: health topics: yogurt-covered snacks, added sugar, nutrition labels, hydrogenated palm kernel oil, raisins, healthy snacking, candy versus health food, children's food perceptions, homemade snacks, serving sizes genre: explainer, consumer advice tones: cautionary, informative, practical, skeptical emotions: concern (medium), curiosity (medium), reassurance (low) sentiment: neutral audience: health-conscious consumers, parents, snack shoppers, people interested in nutrition people: David Katz, Mario Kratz, Dina Rose, J Bruce German, Jennifer Willoughby products: yogurt-covered raisins, yogurt-covered pretzels, regular raisins transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Should I Eat Yogurt-Covered Snacks? > Sponsored content. 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[Watch (HLS stream): Should I Eat Yogurt-Covered Snacks?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kmfzH5tJ.m3u8) (1:55)  _Published 2015-07-22. Yogurt-coated raisins sound like a double-dosage health food. But don’t be fooled--a shell of_ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video examines whether yogurt-covered snacks such as raisins and pretzels are a healthy choice. Five experts say the yogurt coating is closer to frosting or candy, made with sugar, palm kernel oil and other additives. The video compares nutrition facts for yogurt-covered and regular raisins and suggests making snacks at home with plain or vanilla yogurt instead. ## Key points - Yogurt coating is typically made of sugar, partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil, yogurt powder, emulsifiers and salt. (00:22) - David Katz says the coating is more like a frosting, with yogurt as just one ingredient. (00:14) - Mario Kratz says yogurt-covered snacks belong in the same category as candy bars and should not be seen as health food. (00:37) - A quarter-cup serving of popular vanilla yogurt raisins has 19 grams of sugar and 5 grams of fat. (00:47) - A quarter-cup serving of regular raisins has 29 grams of sugar and no fat. (00:55) - Yogurt-covered raisins are chunkier, so each serving contains far fewer raisins and more added sugar. (01:02) - Dina Rose says yogurt-covered raisins and pretzels teach kids that these foods should look and taste like candy. (01:09) - Making your own snacks by dipping fruit or nuts in plain or vanilla yogurt and freezing them gives a treat with less added sugar. (01:38) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:14] Yogurt-covered snacks may not be healthy. The video introduces the claim that yogurt-coated snacks are not the health food they seem to be. - [00:14 to 00:37] What the yogurt coating is made of. Experts describe the coating as frosting-like and list its typical ingredients. - [00:37 to 01:02] Nutrition comparison with plain raisins. The video compares sugar and fat content of yogurt-covered raisins with regular raisins and notes serving size differences. - [01:02 to 01:38] Concerns about kids and real yogurt. Experts warn that these snacks teach kids candy-like expectations and that the coated product differs from real yogurt. - [01:38 to 01:55] Making healthier snacks at home. The video suggests dipping fruit or nuts in plain or vanilla yogurt and freezing them as a lower-sugar alternative. ## Key quotes - [00:37] Mario Kratz: "One should definitely not think about these as a health food" - [00:44] Mario Kratz: "these snacks belong in the same category as candy bars." - [01:09] Dina Rose: "Yogurt covered raisins and pretzels teach kids that these foods should look and taste like candy" - [01:21] J Bruce German: "while yogurt is a nourishing food product, The kind that's dried, mixed with stabilizers and blanketed on dried snacks isn't the same." - [01:42] Jennifer Willoughby: "with significantly less added sugar and more nutritional benefits she says." ## Questions this video answers - What is yogurt coating typically made of? [00:22] - Are yogurt-covered raisins a health food? [00:37] - How does the sugar content of yogurt-covered raisins compare with regular raisins? [00:47] - Do yogurt-covered snacks affect how kids think about healthy food? [01:09] - How can I make a healthier yogurt snack at home? [01:38]  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Jul 23, 2015 2:20 PM UTC Yogurt-coated raisins sound like a double-dosage health food. But don’t be fooled--a shell of  by [Mandy Oaklander](https://time.com/author/mandy-oaklander/)  ## Mandy Oaklander Oaklander is a senior editor at TIME. Jul 23, 2015 2:20 PM UTC **5/5 experts say no.** Yogurt-coated fruit sounds like a double-dosage health food. But don’t be fooled—a shell of “yogurt” contains some very un-yogurtlike things, according to all five of our experts. “While these coatings may be called ‘yogurt,’ they are really a kind of ‘frosting’ of which yogurt is an ingredient,” says **David** **Katz**, MD, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center. The real stars of yogurt coatings are sugar—and _not_ the kind that naturally occurs in dairy foods—and oil. “Having the name ‘yogurt’ in the mix is supposed to make it all okay,” Katz says. “It does not.” In fact, the stuff that makes up yogurt coating—typically sugar, partially hydrogenated palm kernel oil, yogurt powder, emulsifiers and salt—is a far cry from its namesake. “One should definitely not think about these as a health food,” says **Mario** **Kratz**, PhD, a dairy researcher and nutrition scientist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. “I’d place most of these snacks in the same category as candy bars.” At first glance, the nutritional stats don’t seem so bad; for a popular brand, a 1/4 cup serving of vanilla yogurt raisins has 19 grams of sugar and 5 grams of fat, while the same serving size of regular raisins actually has more sugar—29 grams of it—but no fat. But that’s far from a nutritional wash. Since yogurt-covered raisins are so much chunkier than their natural, unadulterated peers, you get far fewer raisins per serving and far more of the unnatural kind of sugar. There’s another danger to these snack food “impostors,” says Dina Rose, PhD, a sociologist and feeding expert of the blog [It’s Not About Nutrition: The Art & Science of Teaching Kids to Eat Right](http://www.itsnotaboutnutrition.com/). “For kids, yogurt-covered snacks like yogurt-covered (or really, oil-covered) raisins and pretzels teach that these foods should look and taste like candy,” she says. Getting a kid to recognize that a yogurt-covered snack should only be eaten occasionally, she says, is the tricky part. **J. Bruce German**, PhD, professor and director of the Foods for Health Institute at the University of California, Davis—and a yogurt researcher—says that while yogurt is a “nourishing food product,” the kind that’s dried, mixed with stabilizers and blanketed on dried snacks isn’t the same. “In general most of the attributes of fresh yogurt are lost in making coated snacks,” he says. That’s why the snacks you buy at the movie theater aren’t the real deal, agrees **Jennifer Willoughby**, a dietitian at Cleveland Clinic Children’s. But here’s the good part: making your own snacks from real yogurt is a tasty and healthy treat. “Choose a plain or vanilla yogurt to dip fruit or nuts in, and then freeze for a sweet treat with significantly less added sugar and more nutritional benefit,” she says.  Illustration by Lon Tweeten for TIME [_Read Next: Should I Eat Butter?_](http://time.com/3896448/butter-saturated-fat/) ## Transcript [00:00] Yogurt coated raisins sound like a double dosage health [00:03] food. But don't be fooled, a shell of yogurt contains some [00:07] very unyogurt like things according to all five of our experts. [00:14] [ MUSIC ] Even though it's called [00:18] yogurt, it's really more like a frosting, with yogurt as an [00:22] ingredient, says David Katz. In fact, yogurt coating which [00:26] is typically made up of sugar, partially hydrogenated palm [00:29] kernel oil, yogurt powder, emulsifiers and salt is a far cry [00:33] from it's namesake. One should definitely not think about [00:37] these as a health food says Mario Kratz. According to him, [00:41] these snacks belong in the same category as candy bars. [00:44] At first glance the nutritional stats Well they don't seem so [00:47] bad. For popular brands, a 1 / 4 cup serving of vanilla [00:51] yogurt raisins has 19 grams of sugar and 5 grams of fat, [00:55] while the same serving size of regular raisins actually has [00:59] more sugar, 29 grams of it. but no fat. But since yogurt [01:02] covered raisins are so much chunkier, you get far fewer [01:06] raisins per serving. And far more of the unnatural kind of [01:09] sugar. There is another danger to these snack food [01:11] imposters, says Dina Rose. Yogurt covered raisins and [01:15] pretzels teach kids that these foods should look and taste [01:18] like candy, she says. J Bruce German says that while [01:21] yogurt is a nourishing food product, The kind that's dried, [01:25] mixed with stabilizers and blanketed on dried snacks isn't [01:29] the same. That's why the snacks you buy at the movie [01:32] theater aren't the real deal agrees Jennifer Willoughby. But [01:36] here's the good part. Making your own snacks from real [01:38] yogurt is a tasty and healthy treat. Choose a plain or vanilla [01:42] yogurt to dip fruit or nuts in and then freeze for a sweet treat [01:45] with significantly less added sugar and more nutritional [01:49] benefits she says. [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3945988/yogurt-covered-raisins/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3945988/yogurt-covered-raisins/"},"headline":"Should I Eat Yogurt-Covered Snacks?","datePublished":"2015-07-23T14:20:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-05T08:29:21.450Z","description":"Yogurt-coated raisins sound like a double-dose health food. 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